“First Encounter”
In mid-September, City C.
Inside the lobby of a museum in the city center, two men wearing work badges were whispering to each other.
“Manager, Xu Xian’er is really here.”
“Where?”
The man called manager was already excitedly looking around when he heard the word “Xu.” After the reminder from the person beside him, he looked in the direction of the pointing finger and was immediately caught by a straight figure.
That man was at least 190 centimeters tall, with almost all of his height in his legs.
The manager nervously straightened his suit jacket. After making sure his appearance was fine, he lifted a foot and walked over. He brought his assistant and slowly moved toward that person, and the closer he got, the faster his heartbeat became.
On the west side of the exhibition hall, which was filled with artworks, stood a man in a lakeside blue suit with his back to everyone, focused on observing an oil painting embedded in an alcove. The reason he could instantly seize other people’s attention was probably because he had a head of neatly combed white hair. In art circles, this was the symbol of his status.
The manager walked behind him and carefully chose his words before speaking, “Teacher Xu, welcome to the preview exhibition. Thank you for gracing us with your presence.”
Xu Qingchen’s thoughts gradually returned. His gaze moved away from the oil painting little by little, and following the sound, he turned around.
“You can just call me by my name.” He spoke, and his voice was different from what they had imagined, not icy at all, but elegant and warm.
The manager met those extremely distinctive eyes of his and could not help but freeze for two seconds. The assistant beside him reminded him in the softest voice, “He doesn’t like other people calling him teacher.”
“Oh, oh,” the manager hurriedly said with a smile, “Then Xu, Xu, Xu…”
The manager, who normally spoke very well, suddenly found himself at a loss because he was nervous. Calling him by his full name was definitely impolite, but he could not think of a suitable alternative.
Xu Qingchen suppressed the urge to yawn and revealed a smile that did not match his image. “My name is Xu Qingchen.”
After saying that, he took a step forward, turned his back to them, and continued observing the oil painting in the alcove that was especially brilliant in color. His meaning was very obvious, he did not want to talk anymore.
The manager tactfully pulled the assistant away. After walking about ten meters away, the two of them stopped. The manager grabbed the assistant’s arm and solemnly instructed, “Listen, Director He has given orders. No one is allowed to disturb Xu Xian’er. Don’t let anyone bother him. He can do whatever he wants, say whatever he wants. This is the boss’s cherished great expert, we all have to treat him respectfully, understand?”
“Understood.” The assistant nodded repeatedly, and soon a trace of amazement appeared in his eyes. “This is my first time seeing him up close. He looks… really special.”
“He’s a mixed-blood, and he is indeed handsome.”
“Handsome in a different way.”
“The rumors say his personality is eccentric and not easy to get along with. Let’s not provoke him. Just keep an eye on him.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the two of them turned around and discovered that the white hair who had just been standing in front of the painting had suddenly disappeared.
The manager hurriedly waved his hand. “Find him.”
“Where do we look?”
“Check exhibition hall and the rooms. Director He said we have to keep him under close watch, and report every move to him.”
….
Xu Qingchen was not in the exhibition hall. He was a little sleepy and thought the second floor would be quieter.
He had not left home for a very long time, and had had very little contact with people, not to mention attending an event like this preview exhibition. Without thinking much, he walked straight into the empty hallway and, following his instincts, casually pushed open the door to a rest room.
The scene in the room was different from what he had imagined.
On the long sofa directly facing the door sat a young man who looked no older than twenty.
One lowered his head, one raised his head, and their gazes met without warning.
Xu Qingchen inevitably looked him over. The other person’s clothes matched his hair in color, a simple white hoodie. His features were handsome, with a pair of rare large brown eyes with a hint of golden flecks, a narrow nose, beautiful lips, and an exotic air. His skin was like the most delicate white porcelain, and his naturally curly hair hung down to below his ears, soft and tucked behind them. At first glance, he gave people a very obedient and delicate feeling.
In just two seconds, Xu Qingchen finished looking at him and reached a simple and practical conclusion: he looked really good.
“Can I come in?” Xu Qingchen asked, without any emotion.
The young man was still observing him with barely noticeable eyes. First he tilted his head, then nodded.
Xu Qingchen walked in calmly and plopped down into a single armchair. The slight rustling sound made by the fabric rubbing against the leather reached his ears, and he let out a comfortable breath. He casually tugged at his tie, his manner exuding confidence and nobility, and lightly closed his eyes as he muttered to himself, “So comfortable…”
“?” The young man beside him looked at him, his gaze sweeping over his hair and between his brows, finally landing on that protruding Adam’s apple, then he shrugged.
The whole development was somewhat inexplicable!
It was hard to imagine that in this civilized era, one could still encounter such a man. Xu Qingchen’s unhurried appearance made it seem as if he were the only person in this room.
Five minutes passed, and the strange silence kept spreading.
Could this guy have fallen asleep?
The young man crossed his legs, let his eyes drift over the man’s body once, scratched his head in puzzlement, and could not help but speak, “I say, who are you?”
Xu Qingchen slowly opened his eyes following the sound. Seeing the young man’s bright eyes, he said in a somewhat tired voice, “My surname is Xu, my name is Xu Qingchen.”
After returning to the country, this was the day he had introduced himself the most.
The young man, who had originally not cared, immediately showed a subtle change in expression when he heard his name. His gaze locked onto Xu Qingchen again, and surprise appeared in his eyes, as if this chance meeting was not at all reasonable.
People said that Xu Xian’er would never come to this kind of event, not even an art preview exhibition.
The young man began to study the man in front of him seriously.
Xu Qingchen was a mixed-blood. His mother was from City C, but his appearance was very different from the usual mixed-blood look. His pair of gray-green eyes was unlike either his mother or his dad, and there was something beyond reality in them, making him seem naturally coldhearted. Coupled with his high nose bridge and thin chin, at least on the surface, he did indeed fit the rumored image of being cold and mysterious.
“You are the Xu Xian’er they talk about, the one about to become immortal?” The young man sized him up with his eyes. “So this is what you look like…”
“Xu Xian’er?” Xu Qingchen heard it for the first time and could not help raising an eyebrow. “What does that mean.”
The young man just smiled. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his thighs and propping his chin in both hands as he looked openly at Xu Qingchen.
Xu Qingchen asked, “Do we know each other?”
“That question should be mine to ask you,” the young man revealed his white teeth. His smile was a little fake, but somehow likable. “If you don’t know me, why did you swagger into my rest room, and without even a polite greeting, just collapse onto the sofa like that and try to sleep? Bro, aren’t you being a little too casual.”
Xu Qingchen looked around and said in confusion, “Your rest room?”
“Mm-hmm…” The young man made a sound from his nose. When he smiled, both his lips and eyes moved, and there was a kind of childish mischief in the smile.
Xu Qingchen was not embarrassed. He calmly explained, “The person who invited me to the art preview exhibition told me that here, I could go anywhere I wanted, and he deliberately emphasized that as long as I wanted to.”
At that, the other person’s expression changed. He lowered his head and muttered as if holding back his anger, “He really has no bottom line when it comes to you… What exactly is the reason for this.”
“I don’t know either.”
Xu Qingchen took over the conversation. Under the other person’s strange gaze, he stood up and said in a low voice, “Did I disturb you? I didn’t think that much. I was just sleepy and wanted to sleep. I’ll change to an empty rest room.”
As he spoke, a trace of trouble flashed in his eyes, and he grew even more regretful that he had stepped into this building today.
“Hey, wait!” The young man suddenly stood up, staring with his big eyes. “Where do you work?”
Xu Qingchen’s eyes narrowed slightly, and he gave him a puzzled look.
The other person spat softly, cleared his throat, and said to him, “I mean, where do you work?”
After being quiet for two seconds, Xu Qingchen answered, “The place I live.” He pointed outside the window and continued, “The apartment building across the road. I don’t cultivate immortality, I only know how to paint.”
The young man: “…..”
Xu Qingchen searched his pockets and finally found a business card. As he handed it over, he glanced at the coffee cup on the table and said, “There’s an address on it. I have great coffee beans at home.”
The young man took the business card in a daze. When he lowered his head to look at it, Xu Qingchen’s low voice came again by his ear, “The coffee here is really terrible. You can endure it, though.”
I can even endure someone like you, let alone something as trivial as terrible coffee?
The young man complained silently in his heart, and suddenly thought of a problem. He seemed not to have introduced himself yet. Xu Qingchen had not asked from the moment he entered, and he had not proactively reported his name either.
“Oh right, my name is Shen Xuchuan, Xuchuan is…” When he looked up, the doorway was already empty of Xu Qingchen’s figure. Anger surged in his heart, and he began complaining openly, “Damn, what kind of person is this.”
Immediately after, he heard the very fawning voice of the exhibition hall manager coming from the hallway: “Teacher Xu… ah no, Painter Xu, why are you here? I’ve been looking for you for a long time, look…. blah blah blah…”
Shen Xuchuan stood there blinking, his gaze returning to the business card in his hand. After looking at it for a long time, he smiled and muttered to himself, “You just gave me your address so defenselessly. What a weirdo.”
He put away the business card, leaned back, and sank into the sofa again. Coincidentally, his phone rang in his pocket. He took it out and put it directly to his ear, looking at the ceiling above as he said, “Guess who I ran into today.”
Laughter came from his good friend’s side of the call. “Who else could it be? Wasn’t it Director He you’ve been thinking about day and night? Didn’t he invite you to that Royal Art Society preview exhibition? For someone like you who isn’t into art, wasn’t it especially boring?”
“No, not him.” Shen Xuchuan took the business card out of his pocket and fiddled with it. “I ran into someone unexpected.”
“Who exactly was it?”
“My love rival.”
“Huh?” The laughter on the phone became even more unrestrained. “That painter who always gets creepy bad reviews? How does it feel, where do you think you lost to him?”
Shen Xuchuan curled his lips, and his fingers wound around his hair as he played with it. “I don’t think I lost.”
“Then what are you planning to do next?”
“Of course, infiltrate the love rival’s inner circle.”
Shen Xuchuan rolled his eyes nimbly and pressed the business card against his forehead with one hand.
I want to know why he is so fascinated by him.